Asus ZenFone Zoom is the best imaging-centric smartphone that the Taiwanese electronics company has launched to date. It is Asus' landmark attempt at combining the ease-of-use and svelte form factor of a full touchscreen Android handset and the great imaging capabilities of a point-and-shoot digicam -- and in many ways, they have succeeded in this stellar effort.

Flaunting a gorgeous body made using real metal and genuine Italian leather, ZenFone Zoom is the world’s thinnest smartphone with a 13 MP PixelMaster rear camera and an innovative 10-element digital eye, created by the optics experts at Hoya. Made of glass as well synthetic and prismatic lenses, Zoom's camera module is meticulously configured in a dual-prism periscope arrangement to maximize incoming light and capture the best possible photo quality.

But perhaps the most talked-about imaging feature of this device is its three-times lossless optical zoom replete with optical image stabilization. Since Nokia's decline, very few handset companies have dedicated their resources to crafting a cameraphone having these unique and complicated hardware capabilities. Given that, I want to commend Asus for being daring enough to try their hands on it.

For those who've been asking me how well the three-times optical zoom feature of my Asus ZenFone Zoom works, here are some full frame and center-zoomed sample shots that I've taken using the device. I'll let the quality of each photo speak for itself. Kindly click on the images for full-resolution view:

Case 1

Case 2

Case 3

Case 4

Case 5

All of these raw images were taken using automatic settings on the Asus ZenFone Zoom.

What do you think about these photos, guys? Let me know your thoughts via our comments section below. As I've said, the ZenFone Zoom is Asus' maiden effort in this specific category so I'm sure that the company can learn a lot from consumer feedback in crafting follow-up devices.